TAUNTON — Morton Hospital got its start 125 years ago in part thanks to a familiar fundraising method that remains a fixture at community events to this day. A 50-50 raffle.

Back then, an academic surgeon named Silas Presbrey spearheaded a campaign to bring a hospital to Taunton, believing that the city's industrial strength and its population made such a health care facility necessary and possible. Presbrey, other doctors, churches and other members of the community rallied to raise the money, through subscription pledges and fundraising drives.

"It's such a classic Taunton story," said Dr. Charles Thayer, a second-generation surgeon at Morton Hospital who got his start there in 1984. "You can't make this up. They did a series of raffles. The Old Colony Historical Society holds many of the original tickets. (Presbrey) convinced everyone in town to buy 50-50 raffle tickets. He had a very substantial prize. That's the way the charitable organization started. That's where he found the foundational money to actually start it."

Morton Hospital is currently observing its 125th anniversary, after originally opening its doors on Jan. 3, 1889. While looking back with pride at its history serving patients from the Taunton area, Morton Hospital officials also said they are focused on the future and continuing to offer high quality care in the community.

While the Morton Hospital facility has developed dramatically since it first opened in the former mansion of its namesake — Massachusetts Gov. Marcus Morton — so has the medicine, the technology and the methods, hospital officials said.

"I think they were cutting-edge back in the 1800s when they decided to take a house and turn it into a hospital, and that community spirit has continued and will continue," said Kim Bassett, president of Morton Hospital.

The large, white house used as the original hospital building, which had 20 rooms, was donated by Gov. Morton's daughter, Susan T. Kimball of Boston. Morton was a well-known Taunton resident, and he also served in Congress for two terms during the administration of President James Monroe. Kimball made the request that the hospital be named "Morton Hospital." The name was officially adopted in 1914.

The idea for Morton Hospital was also promoted by late-19th century Taunton Mayor Charles Johnson, who called for a hospital to provide a suitable place to care for the "homeless sick" in his 1881 inaugural address.

The original price for patients was $10 per week when the hospital opened, but within a year it was raised to $15 for each week, according to Morton's historical records.

Thayer said that a terrible railroad crash solidified the belief within the public and medical community that a city hospital was needed. The crash took place in September 1898 at the Whittenton Junction, injuring dozens of passengers, many of whom were Tauntonians

"They had several operations going at the same time," Thayer said. "Most people actually lived from that big train accident. Everyone agreed if they didn't have that hospital a lot of those people would have died."

Page 2 of 3 - Since then, there has been physical expansion at the hospital that matched the growth in the city, which had a population of 20,000 when the facility first opened (Taunton now has a population of 56,055).

First, in 1900, a new operating building was opened. Then, in 1912, a new pavilion facility opened, with general medical and surgical rooms to hold 75 patients.

By 1940, the hospital constructed a new maternity wing to meet the demands of a burgeoning population. Seventeen years later, a new surgical wing replaced the former pavilion, raising the bed capacity from 96 to 127.

The former "Morton Mansion" building donated by Kimball was replaced in 1967 by a large, central brick building for the medical campus, including a laboratory, an X-ray department, an enlarged maternity section, a new and larger emergency unit, a new physician therapy section, a new medical records unit, new offices, a dietary department and an intensive care unit.

"The hospital has steadily grown continuously," Thayer said. "I can actually remember as a kid going into that mansion to actually receive care as a child. Things have been always growing and moving and we still have great plans for the future. It's a resource. The city of Taunton is large enough, populous enough, and diverse enough so that it needs a resource for health care. We need to continue to build and offer new things."

In 1976, the hospital added a five-bed ambulatory care unit to the emergency room. In 1979, the Thayer Building was constructed (named after Theodore R. Thayer), and a new wing for day surgery opened in 1983.

Recently, the hospital's business management has also changed dramatically. After running for years as a nonprofit entity, Morton Hospital was purchased by Steward Health Care System and changed into a for-profit hospital in 2011.

Since then, the hospital has invested in renovations for the facility, acquired a robotic assisted surgery system and other technological systems.

Last year, however, Steward and Morton Hospital faced resistance from members of the community when it announced the closure of its longstanding pediatric unit, drawing concerns parents, nurses and pediatricians at a public meeting held by the state about the hospital's decision.

The Department of Public Health issued a nonbinding finding that the pediatric unit was "necessary for preserving access and health status in Morton Hospital's service area." Steward and Morton officials said the hospital could not find pediatricians to treat the patients on the unit after its partnership with the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center ended, and also cited low admission levels.

Thayer and Bassett highlighted Morton Hospital's recent 2013 "Top Hospital" award from Leapfrog given to only 90 hospitals in the country (including seven in Massachusetts) for quality and patient safety.

"I would like everybody to know that this hospital has received some of the highest marks nationally for quality that one can receive," Thayer said. "I think that sometimes that the community does not understand that."

Page 3 of 3 - Morton, which now has more than 900 employees with more than 350 physicians, is ready for the future, Bassett said.

"We're going to continue to work diligently to make sure our patients receive the highest quality of care and they know that Morton Hospital would be the place to come to," she said. "We have something to be proud of for sure."